The Masks We Wear
by Nightshade6265
Summary: Everyone wears masks to hide some part of themselves. Naturally, some masks are better at hiding things than others. The best masks, like Ramna Saotome's, hide in plain sight. Who is Ranma beneath his mask? We'll let him tell you.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everybody! Welcome to my second story! This fic is heavily inspired by Rapancheese's "Walking a Thin Line" and as such there will be similarities, such as characters being OOC, as well as other aspects. While I suggest reading that fic, my reason for writing this one is due to my one disappointment with it. Its ending, or lack thereof, really bothers me, and as such, I am writing this!**

**Also, this time, I will attempt to write in a multiple first person perspective.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½, hell I don't own anything! Even the brain I'm using is on lease.**

Ranma

I often find myself sighing as I lay on the roof of the Tendo's home, thinking about all the things that have changed over the past months since Jusendo, thinking about all the things that haven't.

I've been growing stronger, far stronger. My ki reserves are becoming deeper and my ki itself has changed, though I'm not quite sure how to describe it.

So yeah, I've become more powerful, but it's not like it'll help me with any of my real problems.

None of the girls have changed. Shampoo, Ukyo, and Kodachi aren't any less obsessive. Hell, they're probably more obsessive now than ever if the explosives at the failed wedding were any indication.

Akane's temper hasn't improved, it hasn't worsened, but then again I'm not sure it can get much worse that malleting me into LEO (low earth orbit) for stupid insults. I just don't understand, it's obvious that she likes me, her protectiveness is proof of that, but she has the absolute worst way of showing it. I've hoped against hope that she would come to trust me, but I know that she won't. What do I have to do for her? Kill a God? Oh wait, I did.

The other inhabitants of Nerima aren't much better, in fact, most of them are as single faceted as I make myself out to be.

My idiot father sees nothing but the Art and his retirement, which he attempts to secure at my expense. Mr. Tendo is too busy wallowing in his grief to do anything at all, which would be sad, if he if he wasn't costing two of his children their lives. My mother has been around more often, always with her delusions of "manliness", as if I know what it means. Cologne is more desperate than ever to get me to the amazon village since the failed wedding, but considering that I beat Saffron, I'm not sure that she could make me through force alone, though I do have to be wary of potions and magic. I could go on, but what's the damn point?

The only one of them who has shown some improvement is Ryoga. He's a little more friendly now and he treats our fights more like sparring matches rather than trying to kill me, though he still yells "prepare to die" every time we fight.

Outside of Ryoga though, everyone is pretty much set in their ways, making them easy to read.

There are really only two people here that I suspect are more than meets the eye. Nabiki and Kasumi Tendo, the ice queen and the angel.

I often wonder about them, if they're like me anyways. Kasumi wears a perfect face of serenity, but I'm almost certain that there has to be more to her than that. On occasion, I see wistfulness in her eyes. Maybe she's hoping to be able to leave her family or make a life for herself. I honestly hope that she gets to.

Nabiki is the one I'm honestly not sure about. There may be more to her than the cold mercenary that everyone sees, or perhaps whatever else there was died along with her mother. I usually find myself believing the first possibility, as I notice that the bills are always paid despite the fact that her father refuses to get a job, though whether this is truly for the wellbeing of her family I'm not sure. Regardless, being her cash cow hasn't been at all fun.

Whether she knows it or not, I allow her to take pictures of my girl form, I wouldn't like to be a freeloader like my father is, after all.

I suppose that I hold out hope that if they really are hiding behind masks like I am, that they would be willing to be my friends, but I doubt I could get them to show me more without laying all my cards on the table, which I'm in no way prepared to do.

I suppose that if I had to choose one word to describe myself right now it would be tired.

Tired of all the responsibilities, the honor, the girls, the nutcases, and the act, especially the act.

Since I'd arrived at the Tendo dojo, no, before that. Since the early years of travelling with my father I had put on a mask, and a damn convincing one at that. He never saw anything but the Art, and everything else I learned at any temple, any shrine or town that we visited was worthless. I had to hide my intelligence from him, from everyone, and I'm tired of that.

It just gets old, being the martial arts jock, the one trick pony, the idiot who has no real friends because he can't risk being himself. It's painful really, to have to act stupid and have everyone treat me like I am.

The thing is, I can't end the charade. If I show my intelligence the game changes. I've acted incompetent and incapable in everything but the art, and it's been extremely helpful in terms of keeping things the same. If he knew how smart I was, my father would probably have me drugged and at the altar by tomorrow. If I show that I can make my own decisions I'd be forced to choose one of my fiancés. What then? If I don't choose Shampoo her punishment for not bringing me back to her village could be death, Ukyo's only course of action to keep her honor intact is to kill me if I don't marry her, and not choosing Akane or one of her sisters means my honor would be tarnished. I've always been taught that martial arts were to protect the weak, and I've done my best to carry that idea into my daily life. I can't hurt anyone for the sake of my happiness, but at the same time I don't want to be unhappy, so until I can find a way to solve this mess, I have to keep up appearances.

There's really only one flaw with my act, and I'm honestly surprised that nobody has picked up on it. So far as I can tell, people have just become so accustomed to the fake me, the stupid me, that they ignore anything that suggests that I might not be.

I've been defeated, brutalized, obsessed over, and made helpless, yet fake me still hasn't changed his views of the world, and nobody cares enough to notice. I've made myself out to be the embodiment of strength, the constant that keeps everything else around me in balance, but they should've realized that no one could experience all those things and remain the same, and they honestly believe that my views of the world haven't changed in the slightest.

I suppose that's something that really gets to me. The loneliness. It doesn't even make me angry anymore it just makes me…sad.

There's nobody who really cares for me, nobody I can confide in.

Akane hasn't trusted me since day one, and all my so-called friends and family want something from me. I'm just a means to an end for most of them, which is a really depressing thought.

I just wish there was somebody I could trust, but even if there is, unless I trust that person completely, I can't spill my secret.

I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place, and I can't change that.

'That's enough thinking for tonight, wouldn't want to end up a depressed wreck like Ryoga.' I think to myself, finally dismissing any remaining thoughts from my mind, allowing it to go blank.

As I lay here on the roof, it begins to rain, activating my curse.

Naturally, I begin considering the curse.

'What is it to me?' I asked myself once.

Looking back on it, that answer has really changed over time.

Two years ago I would have sworn vehemently that it was the bane of my existence, that I was a guy despite outward appearance. I suppose that's one of the few things that I had in common with the fake me, but he couldn't move past that, not without making me suffer under even more pressure from my parents. What it means to me now is a very different story. Now the curse is merely an inconvenience, and a miniscule one at that. I asked myself what it meant to me some time ago, and I found that the answer, while simple, had changed to something that I wasn't expecting. Here's what it means: Sometimes I'm a guy. Sometimes I'm a girl. Sometimes I have different parts, but I mentally remain the same, end of story.

Once I finished that line of thought I resumed my relaxation, allowing my mind to once again go blank.

This was it, the reason that the roof of the Tendo home is my favorite spot. It's peaceful. It's the only place in my life where nothing bothers me, where I can just take in the world around me without the usual distractions of my downright insane existence.

Of course, there are some nights where even my safe haven of peace can't protect me.

'This is one of those nights.' I thought to myself as I heard a quiet sobbing from below me.

Nabiki

Money, the only thing I seem to care about.

Everybody believes that that's all there is to me, and that's good. That means that I'm serving my purpose.

My mother's death hit my family really hard. My father stopped working, and there was nobody to take care of the house, so Kasumi and I took up those roles. Akane was too young, and my father hasn't told her that she should help either of us. I'm actually glad; I wouldn't want her to get into my line of work. It wears you down and eats away at you until you cant even recognize yourself.

Anyways, keeping the household afloat financially has become my eternal struggle, making me forfeit almost everything in my life.

Sometimes I wonder if I will have to be her forever, the Ice Queen that is.

I really hope not. I hate her. I hate her more than anything in the world but, the truth is, I need her.

Locking everything else away is the only way I can support my family, and with some of my business dealings, keeping my clients afraid is the only thing protecting me from them.

I'm not completely alone though, Kasumi I understand each other. She knows that I do what I have to, but that doesn't make it any easier.

Friends are out of the question. Some of my more… desperate clients might try to use them to get to me.

'I should give up on these thoughts.' I tell myself, knowing that I have work to do.

I settle down on my bed and begin counting money for the mortgage, school tuition, and other needs.

There's something bothering me though, like a fly buzzing around, making me uncomfortable.

It's a familiar feeling, and I know the cause of it.

I put the money down, and get off my bed.

My suspicions are confirmed, the picture of my mother is on my desk, watching me.

'Kasumi must have put it there.' I muse as I lay it face down so that it can't stare at me.

The damage is done though, as I find myself crying softly.

I miss her; I wouldn't want her to see me like this, doing terrible things to people for the sake of my family, to see me alone.

I lay on my bed crying a quietly as I can manage.

How long has it been? A half-hour? An hour?

Suddenly I hear a tapping on my window.

Cursing I manage to silence myself and to dry my tears.

The only one who would tap on my second story window is Ranma.

'I swear to god I'm going to double his debt!' I tell myself as I open the window to find a soaking wet female Ranma waiting outside.

"Hey Nabiki, are you okay?" He asks.

My anger melts like a snowball in hell.

'Am I okay?' I ask myself in my head, knowing the answer already.

Nobody has asked me that for a long time.

I look at the boy turned girl waiting outside in the rain, concern written all over his face. Only Ranma could worry about the Ice Queen.

Ranma

'Crying, there's another thing I have in common with the fake me. Neither of us can stand the sound of crying.' I muse as I listen for which room's occupant is crying.

As I look over the edge of the roof, I find that only Nabiki's light is on.

I stay still for a moment, unsure of what to do.

Finally I opt to tap on her window and check on her.

After a few moments all the noise stops and the window opens to reveal a very pissed-looking Nabiki Tendo.

"Hey Nabiki, are you okay?" I ask, slightly afraid that she might increase my debt. (Which I'm beginning to believe I might never finish paying off.)

Almost instantly, her anger sputters and dies.

She now has a confused look on her face, as if I've grown a second head.

Perhaps it's due to the fact that I'm soaked outside as a girl and have yet to ask if I can enter, regardless, I'm very interested.

Confusion is something I rarely see on the so-called Ice Queen's face.

"Why do you care Saotome?" She asks, composing herself after a few moments.

She's a few seconds too late though, and I've seen what I've been hoping for, humanity in the Ice Queen.

Quickly I put on my usual mask of ineptitude.

"I heard you crying and thought that maybe you hurt yourself." I say, not wanting to blow my cover by revealing my suspicions about her.

"You're the klutz here, Saotome." She says, closing the window and leaving me outside in the rain.

**There's the first chapter! You can already guess whom this story will be centered around. I will try to differentiate more between the real Ranma and Fake Ranma (yes that's what I'm calling him unless you can think of anything better) in future dialogue with Akane. There will be some Akane bashing in this story. My biggest worry here is that I'm writing Ranma and Nabiki too similarly, so tell how I 've done on that. Please review!**

Update June 3, 2014

I have changed a few things to lessen the Akane bashing, and changed the short blurb regarding Ryoga


	2. Chapter 2

**All right guys! Here's the second chapter! I really hope you like it. I'm really having a great time writing in first person POV, though it is a little difficult.**

**Some of you have commented that I've been relying too much on fanon, but I'm going to make this clear right now; I'm not writing to please you. I'm here to improve my own writing skills and decided to work with a series has some extremely under-developed characters. If you don't like me putting my own ideas in, then you don't have to read it. If you like it, great! Come along for the ride. Also, it should be noted that while I have read the manga, I am better versed in the anime. This means that our conceptions of Akane's temper may not match up, as she doesn't really improve in the Anime.**

**Disclaimer: If you think I own anything, then you've made some terrible life choices.**

Nabiki

It's been almost a week since my little breakdown, and I've had plenty of time to think about what happened, Ranma in particular.

When I first met him his curse was a little off-putting, but honestly it's just become a part of daily life, in fact, it would feel odd if it weren't present.

Despite what I appear to think of him as the Ice Queen, I actually admire him a little bit.

He cares for everybody, even when they don't deserve it, myself included. He's naïve, and I know it, but I can't help but like the guy. Don't misunderstand; he sure isn't a saint with all the insults he and my sister throw at each other, but considering how bad his father is, the fact that that's his worst quality could be considered a miracle.

"PERVERT!" SMASH! Akane probably malleted the poor guy into the floor again. Sighing I begin taking money out of the stash I keep solely for damage repairs. Outside I hear the ring from Shampoo's bicycle moving further away.

'Geez, Akane's anger is such a pain. Why does she have to get so jealous of all his other fiancés? It's not like he's overly affectionate towards them or anything.' I think as I walk downstairs to assess the damages.

'The damage seems to be worse than usual.' I think as I see the crater in the middle of our family room, which is now filling with water due to what I assume to be a broken pipe. 'And he, err… she looks like she'll be alright.' I think as now inspect the boy-turned-girl in the center of the crater.

'I really hope Akane manages to get a hold of her temper.' I think to myself, not for the first time.

I sigh to myself as a walk away. I want to help Ranma up, I really do, but the Ice Queen wouldn't do that, and the show must go on.

Ranma

I could have had a relatively peaceful day, but no, I of course had to deal with Akane after school. On some days, if I'm lucky, I'll be too busy fighting Ryoga, Mousse or some other challenger to deal with her. Those are the days that I find myself counting my blessings.

She's got to be the hardest person for me to interact with while I'm the fake Ranma.

When talking to her I have to be almost everything that I hate about the fake me. I have to be condescending, rude, prideful, and even a little bit sexist, while trying to point out that I haven't done anything to deserve a malleting. The fact that she jumps to conclusions doesn't help me either.

I've often mused about how to describe my interactions with Akane, and have come to think of it as a balancing act, an impossible one.

I don't hate Akane, she lost her mother at a young age, her father treats her like a child and she was engaged without her consent, but the truth is, I don't love her, not anymore.

When I first arrived at the dojo I was already tired of keeping up my act, and when I met Akane I thought that just maybe I'd have a real friend whom I could confide in. But then she found out that I was a guy, and treated me worse than dirt. Granted, I said some small insult regarding her figure, but that hardly warrants being smashed over the head with a table.

Anyways, the concept of having a real friend for the first time in years gave me hope, and Akane crushed it almost immediately. Over time our relationship has improved some and I have come to think of her as a friend, but she doesn't really trust me

I honestly don't know if I'll forgive her. I don't hate her for it, but I still can't help but feel betrayed.

Today though, she was especially pissed. She made me lunch today and I hid, after all, getting stomach cramps isn't high on my to-do list.

By some small miracle she didn't find me during lunch, and didn't attack me in class since she isn't willing to risk getting ki drained by Ms. Hinako. On the way home from school however, she was pissed. I could tell that she would boil over soon; her glare and muttering of the words pervert and floozies made that pretty apparent. Whenever she's looking for a reason to mallet me I try to get back to the Tendo compound as soon as possible with the hope that she'll get distracted with homework or trying to help Kasumi cook. I know that she often destroys parts of the house when she mallets me, and I do feel a little bad, but frankly, I'm happy to risk a little damage to the house to avoid a mallet strike.

Today though, Akane was quick to insult me, calling me a pervert and accusing me of spending time with my so called "floozies" during lunch. My counter to these arguments is that I'm nervous enough around girls to be considered a prude, and that both Shampoo and Ukyo were also looking for me during lunch.

Unfortunately, the fake me isn't particularly skilled in the use of logic, and sure as hell wouldn't just ignore an insult and walk away, which left me with only one option: retaliate.

Truth be told, some part of me enjoys insulting Akane, and I'd be lying to say that I didn't resent her even a little for the hitting me.

The fact is that I enjoy getting back at her, and that's one of the two reasons why I've continued to let her hit me.

It's pretty obvious that I far surpass Akane in terms of skill, but if I ever chose to stop her, I'm not sure if I could stop myself from getting back at her for all those beatings, and even if I did, she could easily injure somebody near her if she wasn't paying attention, and I'm not willing to risk allowing either of those to happen.

It's ironic really, that the fake me might be a better person in the respect that he would never consider beating her to a bloody pulp, but I digress.

I of course retaliated, calling her an uncute tomboy, which then resulted in the familiar sight of a large mallet descending upon me and smashing me into the floor.

I take a little bit of time to lie in the crater, as it might just be the only real peace I have today. I sigh as the crater begins filling with water activating the curse. I'm vaguely aware of people walking by and looking at the crater: Mr. Tendo, my father, and Nabiki. She stops for a few moments, probably assessing the cost of the damages. Suddenly I feel guilty that I hadn't just taken the malleting outside on the way back from school. As she leaves, I let out a breath that I didn't know I'd been holding.

Picking myself up from a malleting has become easier over time. I think it has toughened me up, similarly to the bakusai tenketsu training's effect on Ryoga.

True, it's certainly been a slower process, but the end result is the same.

Pushing some broken pieces of wood off of my chest, I begin sitting up.

"Ranma! Go and apologize to your fiancé this instant!" I hear my father yell.

I want so badly to ignore him, to just walk away, but of course, I have to keep up the act.  
"Go away pops, you're botherin' me." I say, before walking out to the dojo.

"Get back here you ingrate of a son, and apologize to Akane!" He yells again, this time taking a step towards me and throwing me outside.

I manage to avoid the koi pond (it may help that I'm already a girl right now) by landing on one of the rocks around it. My father of course jumps into the air above me, and I follow suit, ready for the specialty of my style: aerial combat.

The art is nothing less than my greatest freedom. Fighting is the one activity that involves other people and allows me to be me. It's just so freeing and natural.

He launches a simple punch, an obvious attack, but I know him, and I know how dirty a fighter he can be. Immediately upon dodging the punch I am forced to block, as he lets loose a hail of blows that I know are intended to distract me. And there it is, in the corner of my eye, a kick that could easily send me plummeting down into the pond below us.

"Nice try old man!" I say as I block the roundhouse kick before responding in kind with various blows of my own at amaguriken speeds.

He manages to block most of the strikes but a few manage to clip his sides, throwing off his balance enough for me to send him plummeting down into the koi pond with an axe kick.

"Stupid panda." I mutter as I walk back into the house.

As good as that felt, I know that I can't keep going like this forever. I need someone who I can talk to.

It's not like I have that many options as to who it could be.

'Nabiki or Kasumi?' I ask myself as I walk inside, 'Nabiki would be easier to talk for most of the day, since Kasumi is always at home,

But how should I go about it?' This question stumps me for a while.

'Nabiki's ice queen persona would never allow the two of us to be seen as friends in public, so I have to explain to her that I know that there's more to her than just that.

Of course, I can't just start acting intelligently all of a sudden; I have to make her committed to the friendship. If she sees that I'm smart she might think that I'm just trying to get back at her for all the times she's manipulated me. No, this will work much better under my mask of innocence and honesty. I can explain to her later that there's more to me than she thinks. First though, I need an excuse to talk to her alone, and that means that I'll need either money or a deal with her to pay off my debt.' I tell myself as I douse myself in some warm water that Kasumi has been kind enough to heat for me.

'Let's see here, what could she need that I am capable of doing? The old Ranma certainly isn't capable of working in her intelligence network and she keeps all the people she extorts so scared of her that they don't dare attack her, so working as a bodyguard won't work, though she might see my presence and reputation alone as enough to keep me around for insurance.' I think to myself as I walk to her room.

Regardless, it's time to speak to my future boss.

**That's all folks! Finally done with this chapter, though I need to work on writing fight scenes a little more. Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here we are! I had some trouble with this chapter and re-wrote it a few times. I'm not completely satisfied with it, but I hope that you like it nonetheless.**

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing**

Ranma

'Alright here goes.' I think as I begin knocking on Nabiki's door. After a moment of silence I hear her footsteps as she moves towards the door. She opens it stares at me coldly.

"What do you want Saotome?" She asks in a voice that clearly indicates that she has things that she would rather be doing.

"Hey Nabiki, I kinda have a business proposition for you" I say nervously.

"Using big words today are we?" she asks, a snarky grin forming on her face.

"I, uh…" I say intelligently as I mentally kick myself for not reverting to my simplistic speech habits.

"So what is it that you're proposing Saotome?" She asks now slightly curious.

"Well, I was thinking that I should start working off my debt, and I was wondering if you could find a job for me." I say, hoping that she would have something for me to do.

She shoots me a quizzical look, and I can practically see the gears turning in her head.

Nabiki

Ranma asking for help, now this is certainly odd. I should probably give him a chance to pay off his debt. But what could I use him for? I don't have any dealings with people who are likely to hurt me, so I really don't need a bodyguard at the moment.

Let's see what else is Ranma capable of? He's fast, and his preferred way of traveling is by hopping from roof to roof. He'd make a good courier. He's hard to follow and while it will be easy to see where he's bringing the messages, our reputations should certainly be enough to dissuade anybody from investigating too much.

"I suppose I do have something for you to do." I say, "You can have a job as a courier, all you need to do is to bring information and packages to me from my sources."

He smiles somewhat.

"I'll consider how much I'll deduct from your debt after your first assignment. That will depend of course on how well you do your job. Understand?" I ask.

He nods before thanking me profusely and leaving my room.

"I wonder what happened to make him want to pay off his debt." I murmur to myself once he's gone.

Ranma

Step one is finished, so now onto step two. How do I befriend Nabiki? I could just act nice to her, but I get the feeling that she will think that pretty suspicious. I could just flat out tell her that I was curious because I saw her crying, and I could probably pass it off as just a guess that there's more to her than just the Ice Queen, but I'm not quite sure how she'll react. There are two possibilities that I can think of. Option A, she tells me that I'm right and attempts to be my friend, or option B, she denies that there is more to her than the Ice Queen and fires me immediately.

I think that just flat out telling her might be the better option, after all the fake me is very direct and simple, and this is certainly the most simplistic approach I could take, but I still don

The third matter at hand might prove to be more difficult than actually befriending Nabiki. How on earth do I stay on course as a courier when I have multiple fiancés and challengers attacking me all the time? I can probably deal with Ukyo by telling her that it is important that I wipe away my debt, but Shampoo and the others are unlikely to listen to that reason. I find myself pulled away from my thoughts as I bump into Akane.

"Hey Akane." I say, hoping that she won't as too many questions.

"Ranma, what were you doing in my sister's room?" She asks, her voice indicating confusion rather than its usual ire.

"I just wanted to talk to her about paying off my debt." I say, hoping to diffuse the situation by talking about something that Akane (and every other person in the area) had struggled with as well.

"Well how are you paying it off? You never have any money." She says.

"She actually let me have a job so that I can start paying my debt off." I say, hoping that my fiancées and rivals don't hear about this.

"You've got to be kidding me!" She yells, "You're working for Nabiki?"

"Yeah, something wrong with that?" I ask, my tone challenging.

"Yeah, she sells pictures of us to Kuno!" She says, clearly not catching on the steel in my voice.

I walk off in a huff, not wanting to explode at Akane.

Nabiki

I sigh as I hear the conversation right outside my door. I hate hearing what people think of me. It lets me know that my act is successful, but I still can't stand to hear it.

'Let's see here, what job can I give Ranma?' I ask myself. Suddenly it finally dawns on me that I've made an extremely stupid business decision. I've hired the epicenter of chaos in a town full of superhuman martial artists to deliver various important packages.

After a few minutes of panicking I finally compose myself. Everything will be all right. If things go badly I can just fire him after his test assignment. If everything goes without a hitch then I'll keep him. So long as I make the first package something unimportant I can't lose. I release a breath I didn't know I had been holding.

I pause for a moment, just to stop and look at myself. This is it. This is what I've become: someone who is so focused on money that they would fire someone whom I unfairly condemned to debt if they damaged my profits even marginally.

'Stop it.' I think to myself, 'this is for your family.'

'Does that justify it though?' I think.

I sweep the thought aside as I return to the decision of what Ranma's first assignment should entail.

Suddenly a perfect idea strikes me.

'Oh, this is going to work out just fine.' I think to myself as I relax on my bed and resume counting money.

Something has been bothering me since the hearing the conversation outside of my room though. Ranma doesn't think badly of me, and the Ice Queen has never attracted anything but hatred, which begs the question: 'Does he know?'

Ranma

As I jump onto the roof a thought enters my head. 'What if this whole friendship thing doesn't work out? What then?'

It's a thought that I haven't even considered, and though I hate to admit it, I'm scared of what might happen if this goes wrong. I know that I can't keep going like I have. I'll go nuts, and I know it. There've been so many times when I've wanted nothing more than to just break down, to give up and let Ryoga, Mousse, or whoever just kill me.

At the end of the day though, I know I can't do that. It's not that I'm afraid of dying, but I can't let go of the idea that one day I might get out of this mess. That I might get away from my rivals and fiancés.

It's got to happen eventually. Statistically speaking, I should've already been rid of Shampoo by now. I mean honestly, with all the strong martial artists coming to the area I would've thought that some guy would have beaten her by now.

'One day I'll get out of this mess.' I think to myself, 'I don't lose often, and never when it matters.'

**All right, short chapter I know, but I couldn't think of anything to add and I felt like it was a nice place to end it. I tried to write the whole story beforehand, but I've decided just to post it and to have slow updates. I hope you guys don't mind. As always, review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the next chapter! So sorry for how late this is; I've gotten very distracted as of late as I've decided to play the original Final Fantasy and I just started League of Legends out of curiosity.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Ranma do you really think I'd be writing fanfiction?**

**Ranma**

"Here it is, the day of my first assignment." I tell myself as I sit up on my futon.

Thankfully I've begun to wake up earlier, it gives me more time to think and as a bonus, I don't get rude awakenings from pops every morning.

Silently I get dressed and creep out of the room and down the stairs. To my surprise, Kasumi is already cooking breakfast.

As I walk into the kitchen she turns around to greet me.

"Good morning Ranma, Nabiki left a package for you." She says, gesturing towards a small brown bag sitting on the counter.

Attached to the bag is a note which reads: Ranma, take this to the roof of Furinkan High at 12:00 today. DO NOT LOOK INSIDE THE BAG!

'Damn, I don't like having to go to school on a Saturday' I think to myself before looking at the clock.

Okay, I've got about six hours and ten minutes before I need to be at Furinkan.

Deciding on a course of action I walk outside and hop on to the roof before taking a meditative pose.

I know that to most it seems like I neglect the spiritual aspect of martial arts, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I understand that the spiritual is just as important, if not more so than the physical, and I treat it as such.

Early in my training trip, I met a monk at a shrine. I walked in on him during his morning meditation, and he explained to me that meditation helps one contextualize the control they have gained through martial arts and apply it to all aspects of life. He went on to say that mediation also helps one to connect to their ki, which, when utilized correctly, can allow them to perform feats that most people would consider superhuman.

Akane's morning brick breaking is a perfect example of ki usage, albeit of a low level. Akane can easily shatter bricks with her bare hands despite not receiving any extensive training to toughen her body. A normal person with her training and experience would shatter all the bones in their hand before managing to break the brick, but Akane's naturally high ki levels allow her to shatter the bricks with ease. This is the result of attuning yourself with your ki, and it can be done through emotion or many hours of meditation and practice. Personally, I prefer the latter.

As I begin slowing my breath I allow the world around me to disappear.

The twittering of birds.

Gone.

The rustle of leaves in the wind.

Gone.

The feeling of the roof beneath me.

Gone

The cold morning air that surrounds me.

Gone.

My heartbeat.

Gone.

I find myself encompassed in the void in my mind. Reaching deeper within myself, I focus on my ki, feeling what can only be described as potential, power that has yet to be manifested.

After a few minutes of attuning myself to it, I relax, simply feeling the ebb and flow of my ki, which has naturally attuned itself to that my breathing. As I lose myself within my mind I lose sense of time.

After an unknown period of time I decide to take action. Opening my eyes, I hold out a hand and summon a ball of ki.

Focusing more on the ball I begin to flatten it, attempting to create a small barrier.

It's an idea that I'd been experimenting with for some time. While taking a (very reluctant) trip via air Akane I began considering where her mallet comes from. It's certainly different from Mousse's hidden weapons technique, and it disappears immediately after she's done with it, which implies that it's made of ki. She isn't conscious that she's using it; at least I don't think she is. From what I've noticed, she seems to be working more with instinct than deliberate thought, but that doesn't mean that I can't focus my ki intentionally.

Flattening the mass of ki in my had a little more it glows a little brighter and the edges begin losing form. Soon it falls apart completely, degrading into what looks like a small fire. I force myself into the soul of ice to extinguish it. Upon the ki disappearing I notice that there is now a decent sized burn on the dead center of my palm.

Cursing as I jump off the roof I return inside.

My ki has been increasingly unstable since my battle with Saffron, though it's been happening even more in the past few weeks.

My best guess is that his fire magic left some unintentional side effects on my ki, which has made it harder for me to control.

"Kasumi, where's the first aid kit?" I ask as I walk into the dining room.

"Oh dear, let me get it for you." She responds, hurrying out of the kitchen.

Sitting down at the table I hear someone's footsteps as they come down the stairs.

To my surprise, it's Nabiki, who is usually among the last of the household's members to wake up.

Shuffling by me without so much as a grunt she heads directly for the kitchen, presumably for coffee.

Almost a minute late she comes out of the kitchen and sits down in her usual spot at the table, coffee mug in hand.

A few minutes and several sips of coffee later she finally addresses me.

"What are you staring at Saotome?" She asks, clearly still grumpy.

I blink, not noticing that I've been staring.

"N- noth-" I begin stammer, only to be interrupted by Kasumi, who has returned with the first aid kit.

"Ranma, let me wrap you hand." She says, unwrapping a roll of gauze.

"Thanks Kasumi." I say giving her a warm smile.

Nabiki is studying my hand now.

"I hope you're not expecting any days off." She says, a smug grin on her face.

I can only chuckle, as it's just what I've come to expect from Nabiki.

"You think a little burn is going to stop me?" I ask, now wearing my own trademark grin.

Letting loose a snort of amusement she returns her attention to her coffee.

"Boy!" I hear my father yell as he barrels down the stairs before leaping at me.

I manage to jump outside before he reaches me and engage him in the air, signaling the end of my peaceful morning.

**Nabiki**

Now that Ranma is outside I turn to Kasumi.

"You prepared the package right?" I ask her.

"Of course." She says, nodding to me. "Tell me though, why are you giving Ranma a job?"

"He asked." I say.

Kasumi only raises an eyebrow in response.

"Fine, I felt bad about charging him all the time." I say, tiring of the look she's giving me.

"So he's managed to get past the Ice Queen?" She asks, smiling.

"I suppose he has, but you have to admit, it's kind of hard not to like the guy after all the times he's saved Akane and the dojo. He's just a good person." I muse.

"Don't tell me you're falling for him." She says mockingly.

I can't help but snort in amusement as I picture myself joining the fiancée brigade.

"Yeah right." I say. "I'm a little to focused on other activities for romance at the moment."

"You haven't given a reason you wouldn't like him." She says, her tone even more mocking than before.

"Oh shut up!" I say as I give her a playful shove, before we both break into fits of laughter.

**Ranma**

'Better head to Furinkan' I think as I look at the clock, which now reads 11:32.

I grab the package and head out the door, only to be stopped by the familiar ramblings of an idiot swordsman.

"Kuno, don't you have something better to do?" I ask.

"Silence knave, I shall smite thee!" He yelled, his bokken raised in the Jōdan-no-kamae position.

He steps forward, swinging down towards my neck only for me to sidestep and let loose a brutal kick that sends him flying into the distance.

Just then from the direction I kicked Kuno sprinted a figure that I recognized as Mousse.

Damn, kicking Kuno over there must've caught his attention.

"Ranma, today I will defeat you and win Shampoo's affection!" Mousse yelled,

Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but today Duck-boy wearing his glasses.

"Of course you would choose to wear your glasses on the day that I don't have time to deal with you!" I yell while dodging the numerous weapons that pulls from his sleeves.

In an attempt to blind me he even throws out a smoke bomb.

Unfortunately for Mousse, I've become quite adept at sensing the ki of others, which allows me to dodge the assortment of knives he has begun throwing from odd angles. I barely manage to swing Nabiki's package away from the knives.

As the smoke clears I rush towards Mousse and let loose a barrage of amaguriken blows with my free hand.

Mousse expertly dodges by twisting to the side before leaping back and releasing a hail of iron balls that are attached to chains.

Donning my usual cocky grin I rush forward weaving through the chains before firing a low powered Moko Takabisha at point blank range.

Upon firing the blast I notice that something is wrong. The heat from the blast is immeasurably more intense. The blast flares out on the surface, making look more like a blast fire than a standard ki blast.

As the energy makes contact with Mousse he flies back several feet before crumpling on the ground.

I rush towards him and flip him onto his back, inspecting his stomach where the energy made contact. Mousse's robes have a huge hole in them, and his skin looks as if it has been burned pretty badly. Despite this, I breathe a sigh of relief.

'We've dealt with worse injuries before.' I think to myself, 'but it's a good thing I didn't put any more energy into that attack, the damage might've been a lot worse.'

Picking up the myopic assassin I begin making my way towards the Neko Hanten to drop Mousse off.

The thought is still fresh in my mind, "What is wrong with my ki?"

**Nabiki**

'It's 12:24!' I think, furious about the tardiness of one pigtailed martial artist.

Pacing impatiently I begin calming myself by taking a few deep breaths.

Let it never be said that I don't appreciate the Ice Queen's ability to keep calm in every situation.

Just then I see a figure approaching the school on foot. As he gets closer he jumps onto the nearest fence before leaping a few stories higher onto the roof.

Looking at my phone again I notice that it is now 12:27.

Ranma walks towards me, looking very nervous.

For a moment I just glare daggers at him, waiting to hear what he has to say.

He remains silent for a few moments, looking at me apologetically.

"Well?" I ask, a hint of ice making it's way into my voice.

"Please don't fire me." He says, meekly. This only serves to bring a cruel smile to my face.

It's not the answer I was expecting, I'll give him that, but it doesn't change the fact that he messed up.

He holds out the package for me to take. I snatch it out of his hands before inspecting it. The bag has a few minor rips and tears. Taking out the box inside I look at it, checking of any damage. Finding none, I turn back to Ranma.

"Explain." I command, more patient now that I've found that the package is unharmed.

**Ranma**

"Explain." She commanded, seemingly calmer that before.

Taking a deep breath before speaking I begin my story.

"When I left the house with the package I was attacked by Kuno and Mousse." I say simply, really not wanting to talk about what had transpired.

"So am I fired?" I ask again.

She looks pensive for a moment, as if she is weighing her options.

"No," She says, "but only because you managed to keep the package safe."

Smiling inwardly I turn to walk away before being stopped.

"Saotome, where do you think you're going?" She asks.

"Huh?" I say intelligently.

"I didn't say you could leave." She says, as she motions for me to sit down.

I obey and she follows suit, before taking opening the package and revealing…her lunch.

I barely manage to keep from facefaulting at this.

"You were late and I can't have that if you're working for me, so until you can be on time with deliveries you're going to bring me my lunch every day." She says.

This time I really do facefault.

**That's it everybody! It took way too many tries to write this chapter. I think I've redone it something like five or six times already. I hope you enjoy it though.**

**I would really appreciate it if you were to leave a review. It would be awesome.**


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